Published: Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 10:39 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 10:39 a.m.

TUSCALOOSA | City Councilman Lee Garrison announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election to the seat he has held since 1997.

The 38-year-old will seek the position of chair of the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education, now held by Dan Meissner.

“I have been humbled by the opportunity to represent District 4 on the Tuscaloosa City Council and am extremely proud of the progress made by our community during my tenure,” Garrison said in a news release. “However, I am very concerned about the state of our city school system.”

Meissner said he also intends to run and anticipates “an exciting and challenging race.”

“It’s always been my intention that I wanted to stay until I reached a point where all our schools were achieving at the point we’d all like to see them,” Meissner said. He listed a number of programs and initiatives that have brought what he said were positive results for the school system, including all but one of the system’s elementary schools achieving Adequate Yearly Progress levels last year.

“All of these things are going to bring some great benefits to the system,” said Meissner, who will be seeking his fourth term on the school board and third term as chair.

The councilman, however, said he finds it “unacceptable” that the city school system “ranks near the top in the state in terms of local funding” while “numerous student achievement rankings have our system near the bottom.”

Garrison’s announcement that he is seeking the chairman’s seat on the board of education is an abrupt departure from his statement in February that he would seek a fifth — and possible final — term on the City Council, to which he was first elected while still an undergraduate at the University of Alabama.

The reason, Garrison said, is that members of the community supported comments he made publicly that month that challenged the status quo of the school board and its direction.

During a joint meeting between the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education and City Council, Garrison told the school board members that its image needs to change.

“I think the people have a pretty positive view now of the city of Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama,” Garrison said at the time, “but one of the things we’ve (got to do) is get the city school system to that level.

“I really would like to see some bold things, and some of those things may be uncomfortable.”

Garrison said he believes many residents agree with his assessment of the leadership of the city schools and that is one reason he’s chosen to run for chair of the board.

Another reason, the councilman said, is because he was led to.

“After a lot of thought and prayer and citizens in our community — from all areas of our community — responding to the comments in the paper and just through other discussions, I just felt like this is where God’s calling me to serve our community at this particular point in time,” he said.

Garrison’s news release announcing his candidacy said that he focused his efforts on the City Council to improve the economic health and quality of life of city residents, and that he believes improving the city schools is an extension of that.

“The best days for the Tuscaloosa City Schools are definitely ahead of us if everyone in our community engages themselves in a positive way,” Garrison said in the news release. “The children and parents of the city of Tuscaloosa deserve a championship level education system, regardless of what area of our city they reside.”

<p>TUSCALOOSA | City Councilman Lee Garrison announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election to the seat he has held since 1997.</p><p>The 38-year-old will seek the position of chair of the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education, now held by Dan Meissner.</p><p>“I have been humbled by the opportunity to represent District 4 on the Tuscaloosa City Council and am extremely proud of the progress made by our community during my tenure,” Garrison said in a news release. “However, I am very concerned about the state of our city school system.”</p><p>Meissner said he also intends to run and anticipates “an exciting and challenging race.”</p><p>“It's always been my intention that I wanted to stay until I reached a point where all our schools were achieving at the point we'd all like to see them,” Meissner said. He listed a number of programs and initiatives that have brought what he said were positive results for the school system, including all but one of the system's elementary schools achieving Adequate Yearly Progress levels last year.</p><p>“All of these things are going to bring some great benefits to the system,” said Meissner, who will be seeking his fourth term on the school board and third term as chair.</p><p>The councilman, however, said he finds it “unacceptable” that the city school system “ranks near the top in the state in terms of local funding” while “numerous student achievement rankings have our system near the bottom.”</p><p>Garrison's announcement that he is seeking the chairman's seat on the board of education is an abrupt departure from his statement in February that he would seek a fifth — and possible final — term on the City Council, to which he was first elected while still an undergraduate at the University of Alabama.</p><p>The reason, Garrison said, is that members of the community supported comments he made publicly that month that challenged the status quo of the school board and its direction.</p><p>During a joint meeting between the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education and City Council, Garrison told the school board members that its image needs to change.</p><p>“I think the people have a pretty positive view now of the city of Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama,” Garrison said at the time, “but one of the things we've (got to do) is get the city school system to that level.</p><p>“I really would like to see some bold things, and some of those things may be uncomfortable.”</p><p>Garrison said he believes many residents agree with his assessment of the leadership of the city schools and that is one reason he's chosen to run for chair of the board.</p><p>Another reason, the councilman said, is because he was led to.</p><p>“After a lot of thought and prayer and citizens in our community — from all areas of our community — responding to the comments in the paper and just through other discussions, I just felt like this is where God's calling me to serve our community at this particular point in time,” he said.</p><p>Garrison's news release announcing his candidacy said that he focused his efforts on the City Council to improve the economic health and quality of life of city residents, and that he believes improving the city schools is an extension of that.</p><p>“The best days for the Tuscaloosa City Schools are definitely ahead of us if everyone in our community engages themselves in a positive way,” Garrison said in the news release. “The children and parents of the city of Tuscaloosa deserve a championship level education system, regardless of what area of our city they reside.”</p><p>Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.</p>